Who is behind the sabotage of the two Nord Stream pipelines? The CIA had heard in June 2022 that Ukrainian special forces were planning to blow up these huge infrastructures linking Russia to Germany, reports Tuesday the Washington Post. The daily cites information from the many confidential documents published online by the young American soldier Jack Teixeira before the leak was discovered and the suspect apprehended in mid-April.
These documents indicated that an intelligence agency of an unspecified European country had informed the CIA, four months after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, that military divers reporting directly to the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces were planning this attack on Nord Stream.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which were supposed to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany, were hit by underwater explosions on September 26 and rendered inoperative, potentially depriving Moscow of billions of dollars in revenue. Several countries, including Russia, Ukraine and the United States, had been accused of bearing responsibility, but all had denied it.
Unbeknownst to President Zelensky
According to the Washington Post, the United States, after being warned of the alleged planned attack, warned allies, including Germany.
For the European intelligence agency behind this information, the operation was supervised by General Valeriy Zaluzhniy without the knowledge of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Washington Post's revelations are consistent with reports by German investigators that a team of six people with fake passports borrowed a sailboat from the port of Rostock, Germany, to conduct the operation. The Polish company that rented the sailboat is in fact owned by Ukrainians.
Danish media, however, recently reported that a Russian navy ship specializing in submarine operations was photographed near the sabotage zone shortly before the explosions.
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